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Young Henrys makes good beer with a light footprint

Young Henrys

Solargain's Jake Steele and Young Henry's co-founder Oscar McMahon, with a solar panel inside the Young Henrys brewery. Photo: Jamie Williams/City of Sydney

Aside from being innovative and fun, a key part of Young Henrys beer brewing philosophy is around low-impact – in terms of waste, travel miles and energy use.

The company encourages the use of large glass “growlers” that can be taken into the brewery and filled up multiple times to reduce waste. Its packaged beer is also mainly in the form of cans, which it says are better for quality and the environment. Waste is tackled during the brewing process too, with a tonne of waste grain a day going to the cows at a local farm.

The brewery is also cutting down its carbon impact. Most of Young Henrys beer is sold into suburbs close to the brewery in Newtown, NSW, reducing transport emissions. And on its roof is a 29.9-kilowatt community solar project – installed in partnership with Pingala – which allowed local community members to invest in solar and receive a tidy return on investment.

And if the low-impact philosophy doesn’t pique your interest, according to Young Henrys co-founder Oscar McMahon, its solar-powered beer also tastes better.